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het·ero·doxy | \ ˈhe-tə-rə-ˌdäk-sē 
, ˈhe-trə- \
, ˈhe-trə- \ plural heterodoxies
Definition of heterodoxy
1 : the quality or state of being heterodox
2 : a heterodox opinion or doctrine
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Examples of heterodoxy in a Sentence
Copernicus's theory that the earth revolved around the sun was arrant heterodoxy at a time when the earth was thought to be the center of the universe.
Recent Examples on the Web The difference is that free speech and heterodoxy used to have allies in such venues as The New Yorker and the New York Times, where both political and artistic freedom now have so many enemies.
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Kevin D. Williamson, National Review, "Everybody Is Tipper Gore Now," 6 Oct. 2019 McCain does not appear to have consciously intended his embrace of the campaign finance reform topic to be a major act of ideological heterodoxy.
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Matthew Yglesias, Vox, "John McCain, who died at 81, explained," 26 Aug. 2018 Kanye has long worked with songwriters — something that, because it’s perceived as heterodoxy, is rarely discussed openly.
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Jon Caramanica, New York Times, "Into the Wild With Kanye West," 25 June 2018 Pleasingly for this reviewer at least, that corner turns out to be the system of liberal-arts colleges that Mr. Scruton says are the key to maintaining a heterodoxy of ideas within civic society.
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Richard Aldous, WSJ, "‘Conservativism’ Review: Holding On to the Good Things," 14 June 2018 In any event, the extent of Williams’s heterodoxy cannot be overstated.
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Roger Lowenstein, WSJ, "‘God, War, and Providence’ Review: When Conquest Was Puritanical," 13 June 2018 But his heterodoxy on entitlements certainly helped at least somewhat, especially with older voters.
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Dylan Matthews, Vox, "Paul Ryan paved the way for Trump’s takeover of the Republican Party," 11 Apr. 2018 Should there be any limits to the embrace of heterodoxy?
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Conor Friedersdorf, The Atlantic, "A New Leader in the Push for Diversity of Thought on Campus," 6 Feb. 2018 Hard to believe it’s only been two years since presidential candidate Trump abruptly canceled a CPAC appearance amid reports of a large walkout to protest his ideological heterodoxy.
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Ed Kilgore, Daily Intelligencer, "CPAC Is Going to Be a Trump-Fest," 22 Feb. 2018
See MoreThese example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'heterodoxy.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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Time Traveler for heterodoxy
The first known use of heterodoxy was in 1659
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